Therefore, I say, be very cautious in adopting any opinion where the least chance of a clash of interest is likely to exist, particularly in _love_ affairs. Our cruises in winter, during the time we were on this station, were generally to the southward. Sometimes we ran down to the island of Porto Rico, the Mona passage, and off Anegada, with the hope of picking up some of the French vessels from Martinique or Guadaloupe; but the whole time we remained here, nearly four years, only one ship letter-of-marque, a schooner, and brig, fell into our hands. In our summer cruises, we, on one occasion, went to Madeira; another time to Fayal, one of the western isles, and when there, paid our respects to the nuns in the convents, and bought some of their pretty wreaths for ladies’ hair, beautifully made of parrots’ feathers, in imitation of myrtle. When first we went to the bars of the convent, the abbess sent some of the elder sisters to offer flowers for sale, but these finding no market, she changed her set, and the next time some pretty, interesting young nuns offered their goods, which we immediately bought from such fair hands. If the old harpy of an abbess went away for a minute they used to smile, talk, and give us their hands to kiss through the grates; and their handsome dark eyes seemed to say, “Oh! that these bars were removed, that I might get out of this horrid prison, to which I am consigned by sordid parents to make way for some male branch of the family.” Several of these young ladies, we were informed, had been expatriated from Portugal, from that motive. A short time after we left Fayal, one young nun did make her escape with a captain in the navy, who very honourably married her; but her poor friend, who tried to accompany her, met with a serious accident, falling down and breaking her leg, when getting out of the convent window. She was taken back to her cell, where, it was said, she underwent purgatory upon earth. When on the North American station I met with a severe hurt, while making sail in chase, which laid me up for a considerable period. A rope having got loose, struck me on the face, broke my jaw, and knocked out five of my teeth. In winter, the ships used to rendezvous at Bermuda; during summer at Halifax, Nova Scotia. At the latter place we used to enjoy pleasant society, amongst very kind-hearted and friendly people, whose pretty daughters made sad havoc with the hearts of both the army and navy. After one of our long summer cruises I got leave of absence for ten days, and travelled with a friend, an officer of the Royal Engineers, in his gig, across the country to Annapolis Royal; the scenery did not strike me as being particularly interesting. I saw a great deal of barren, dreary, uncultivated land, that wanted the hand of man to clear it, and make it “bring forth its fruit in due season.”